LUNCHTIME supervisor Lynn Slack couldn't believe her eyes when a bus shelter was plonked less than 10ft away from her front door.

The furious mum-of-two, who lives in Bamford Road, sprung into action and enlisted the help of the Advertiser to challenge Greater Manchester Passenger Transport's decision to site the see-through shelter next to her front window.

And within 24 hours of seeking help from the Advertiser to get the unsightly bus shelter removed from outside her home, reader Lynn Slack got the good news that the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive conceded it had been a mistake.

As our picture shows the overbearing shelter, erected on Saturday, not only obscured most of her front window but had a row of seats looking directly into her living room.

Mrs Slack, 38, was horrified when she went out to find workmen erecting it. She had been assured that the original plan to place it there would be changed after she rang GMPTE to complain.

When she challenged them she was told there was nothing she could do about it and claimed she was verbally abused.

Speaking at her Bamford Road home on Monday, mother-of-two Mrs Slack said that apart from it being an eyesore she was extremely concerned that the shelter may act for a magnet for groups of kids or be a target for vandals.

"When I open my curtains all I can see is people looking in at me. I feel like it has taken away my right to privacy. I honestly can't believe what they've done," she said.

For the 20 years that Mrs Slack has lived at the house there has always been a bus stop outside. But she fears it would not just be bus users that it would attract, especially in light of recent stories about vandals and unruly youths.

As well as the seating, the shelter was to be fitted with lighting, which she felt would add further to the feeling of living in a 'goldfish bowl'.

However, after the Advertiser raised Mrs Slack's concerns with GMPTE a spokesman admitted that the erection of the shelter so close to her property had been a mistake.

"We can confirm that the shelter will be removed today (Tuesday) and that GMPTE is writing to Mrs Slack to apologise for this error," they added.

Though Mrs Slack was obviously pleased by the decision, she said: "I can't understand why they did it in the first place if they are so quick to remove it. This has caused me a lot of distress and I will still pursue my complaint about the way I was spoken to.

"If I'd been elderly or on my own and hadn't been able to get this kind of support then it would probably still be there."

At the time the Advertiser went to press Mrs Slack was still waiting for it to be taken away.